Timber or Holes?

[buzbunni]

Curious what you all consider your favorite? Maybe neither? I remember DARK30 mentioning he likes to fish shallow riprap occasionally?

Also, if considering holes, what is a hole?
Are you guys dropping lines near the middle of the channel when you see, say 14' drop down to 20-25' or so? Or do you only consider holes mainly on turns and such.

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SERIOUSLY! It was THIS big!

[Dennis Steele]

Wow what is a hole?
Good question.Don't know if I can answer that but will attempt it.
A hole is deeper water than the sourounding water.It is usually created by the current washing away lighter bottom content,or sediment dropping out of the current where the current slows.
It can be on the outside bend of a river,behind ,in front of,or to the side of and immovable object like a tree or rock,maybee even a car .It can also be where the current is the fastest,or found in an eddy.
When you think about it there are so many types of hole that when you talk about fishing hole you are not being very specific about the type of structure you are fishing.We almost need a name for every kind of hole like eskimo's have a name for every kind of snow.
I rarely fish in the deepest part of large outside bend holes,eddy holes unless there is some other kind of structure to hold bait fish or cats for that matter.In the large holes I first typically try to find the area where the most bait is concentrated and fish just downstream.Basically where a large predator can ambush or where they may hold just out of the current that may wash wounded or disorientated bait to them.Typically at night bait fish will move up in the water column and feed at the surface or move to shallow water to feed.A small cut or channel at the head of a hole may concentrate fish on the move and big cats will waiting close by to intecept.You may also find this situation at the tail of the hole.You can sometimes easily see these areas just by looking for current edges,allthough sometimes you will have a current edge caused by two currents meeting in the hole and there is no channel formed at the bottom.These types of current edges are fish concentrating areas also but thats a story for another time.
Small holes,the kind that are formed by imovable objects like a snag,rock,car etc.,will hold fish and are good candidatess to drop a bait into.The fish are holding inthese holes to wait for something tasty to come along or are resting there.Cats will nudge themself up against the head of the hole to get just out of the current or may hold at the back.If you drop your bait into the middle of the hole a fish at the tail will not have to move to far to take it.If the fish is holding at the front of the hole he is waiting for something to be swept into the hole so I also place a bait at the upper break of the hole.
One thing to rember when fishing rivers is to think of how the current is moving thrugh any kind of structure.Its the current that dictates fish locations more than the structure itself.

Hope that was some help and not too confusing.

[DARK30]

Confusing? I know right where your talking about You did forget to tell him however that if he is in your boat and hes fishing a more productive hole than you are ... you WILL throw your bait right on top of his

Hi Buz, Being I spend most of my hours fishing from shore, the first thing I think about is what shore spot I should try. I prefer sand and rock over wood snags because fishing wood from shore is pointless. Holes, whether they are big deep ones or just a little deeper than the surrounding water are good places to fish. You may not want to fish the deepest part of the hole but somewhere nearby...maybe even up on the flats above them where there is no real change in depth. There are a lot of "spots" but no two spots exactly the same.

The Minnesota has been full most of the summer too and water level has a funny way of changing things also. Most spots are better or worse depending on the the gauge reading and clarity of the water. Its hard to "generalize" areas to fish because like I said...No two alike.

I've been wondering myself how the fishing would be on the Lower Minnesota for Flatheads. You say you guys tried the area from 35W to the Mississippi? did you notice any major changes in structure? I'm guessing that the best places in that stretch would be any dips,drop offs, or creek inlets along the barge channel. Now of course, Catfishing will be slowing down considerably on the Minnesota...Time to sneak up on some Walleyes!

WET NETS!

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cast,cast,cast,cast......

[FishinLogician]

Dark,

Are you saying the cat season is pretty much over for this year? I thought it lasted later into the fall. Of course having been fairly well outsmarted this year I can't say I have any knowledge to draw from when it comes to cats.

Chip

[buzbunni]

As always, thanks for all the great info. The struggle is the glory, right?

DARK, I enjoy fishing from shore as well(and do it quite often), it's just there aren't as many tasty, easily accessible spots here as down by you...I don't think. Plus, when you can hop in a fishing rig set-up the way the Logician is, well....let's just say the FishinLogician has his boat rigged up to make any night catfishin' fiend proud.

We actually haven't done much fishing south of the 35W bridge. You are correct in your assumption that the only spots to mention are dips, drop-offs, and inlets. Since the area north of the 35 ramp seemed so much better, we have pretty much stuck with that. An amazing river the MN, it seems to not only change personality with the water levels, but also around every turn; that's why we love it so. I am also a bit curious to try for flats on the mighty Miss sometime. I have spent quite a bit of time fishing walleyes, bass, and such on pool 2, but I haven't tried for any cats there yet.

I also am getting the hankerin' to chase walleye. I have not caught any(haven't really tried) on the MN, but am going to give it a try this fall, especially if you guys say the cat bite is tapering for this season(at least until the 2nd annual hardwater catfish extravaganza on the Horseshoe Chain...right Dennis?).

We'll be out somewhere this weekend and we will be sure to post results.

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SERIOUSLY! It was THIS big!

[DARK30]

I wouldn't say the catfishing is over but they will be slowing down now with the colder temps. Flatheads will head for their wintering holes and just sit there. People do on occasion find them in the winter but they should be left alone.

In some cases (like Horseshoe) you can catch channels all winter. I have heard of very few catfish caught in the Minnesota after October or so.... gotta think June for catfish!

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cast,cast,cast,cast......